Gerard Presencer

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Gerard Presencer

Background information
Born September 12, 1972(1972-09-12)
Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Genre(s) Jazz, Nu Jazz, Hard Bop, Beebop
Occupation(s) Performer, Bandleader, Educator
Instrument(s) Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Years active 1987 - Present

Gerard Presencer (b. 12 September 1972) is an English jazz trumpeter who has also made a name as a session player in pop-music contexts, and as a jazz educator.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Presencer showed his first interest in what was to become his chosen instrument, the trumpet, at nine. His anthropologist/psychologist father Alain was a trained opera singer with vast collection of jazz records. It was through him that Gerard heard Roy Eldridge's solo from a Jazz At The Philharmonic live date, a performance that Presencer attributes to his early determination to become a trumpeter. Presencer has also cited among others Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw and Clifford Brown as early influences.[1]

At the age of eleven, he became the youngest trumpeter with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Presencer had been playing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra for nearly five years, when he got his first important break. He was spotted on a 1988 jazz boat trip out of Southampton, where he was playing with saxophonist Tim Colwell, by Clark Tracey. Tracy asked Presencer to deputize for Guy Barker in his quintet, and subsequently formed a quartet, featuring the 15-year-old as his sole front-line player. Presencer later secured the trumpet chair in the Pizza Express Modern Jazz Sextet, where he shared the front-line with saxophonists Alan Barnes and Dave O'Higgins. Around this time, at the age of 18, Presencer also began playing with pianist Stan Tracey, in his big band, octet and septet.

Presencer continued to work with British musicians such as Tommy Smith, Stan Tracey, Peter King, John Dankworth, Julian Joseph, Ronnie Scott, Cleo Laine and Jason Rebello, as well as with international musicians, including Johnny Griffin, Phil Woods, Joe Sample, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Roy Hargrove, Red Rodney, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Locke and Bob Berg.[2] He is a member of Charlie Watts' Tentet, with which he has recorded four albums, and was a featured soloist on US3's Cantaloop (Blue Note's biggest-selling release). He has also released three albums as leader.

Presencer has also been a popular session musician, recording with Sting, Jamiroquai, Zero 7, James Brown, Ray Charles, Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Joni Mitchell, The Spice Girls, Paul Weller, Tina Turner, Incognito, Kula Shaker, and the Pet Shop Boys.[2]

As a jazz educationalist, he has taught at the Guildhall School of Music, Leeds College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music (where he is Head of Jazz), as well as being a professor at Berlin's Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler.

[edit] Discography

As a leader
  • 1998: Platypus (Linn)
  • 2000: The Optimist (Linn)
  • 2002: Chasing Reality (ACT)
Other Appearances

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.linnrecords.com/artist-gerard-presencer.aspx - Linn Records - Gerard Presencer (Bio)
  2. ^ a b http://www.hopper-management.com/bios/en/gp_bio_e.htm - Hopper Management - Gerard Presencer (Bio)